Science & Tech Reviews

Favorite Tech Product Of The Year: Record Players

Record players, or as some like to call turntables, aren’t the super ancient types that you see with a huge gramophone sticking out of it. Well, there are still some of those around, but when people talk of record players nowadays, they mostly mean the square-ish block of device with a spinning disc on top of it. In fact, many popular DJs still resort to using turntables in clubs and major musical events. Of course, the high end record players that are used by the best international DJs around the world can cost anywhere from $1,000 to a whopping $5,000.

Don’t let that scare you away though. You could probably get a decent Audio Technica turntable for a mere $200. Just don’t expect the music coming out of it to be mind blowing. There’s also an age-old question that newbies to the world of record players keep asking: what’s the difference between a belt and a direct drive turntable? Which is better?

Both are really decent options, in my humble opinion. It’s like asking whether Intel or AMD has better processors. It really depends on the make, as well as the type of material and resources put into building that particular record player. This is usually marked by the increase in the selling price of those turntables. If you’re a complete beginner to record players however, we highly recommend checking out the AT-LP120-USB by Audio Technica. It’s great for new, aspiring vinyl listeners. It doesn’t have many complex options too. Additionally, its user friendly USB interface allows music listeners to simply plug in their USB drives or connect the record player itself to their PC, to transfer or play songs directly from it.

That’s the basic information on record players. I’ll be posting a more detailed piece on record players soon. Stay tuned!